Hello German shepherd puppies lovers:

Well, I would really rather not deal with this issue, but we must.  It is just so objectionable, so gross when we see a German Shepherd puppy do it.  You never want them to lick you again, or breath in your face.  You lose all respect for your best friend as if they intentionally have done this to shame you.

And when you see it you just get grossed out.  It is coprophagia.  And many dogs do it, and that is eating their  _________ .     There can be many causes including:

  1. Hunger, they are not getting enough food (if they are normal weight or fat this is not the problem.
  2. It could be a vitamin deficiency or mal-absorption of nutrients in the dog’s food.
  3. It can be behavioral, scavenging, (for puppies) mimicking mom’s behavior in cleaning up after the puppies.
  4. It can also just be that some stool has enough palatable attributes (flavor, texture, smell) that they are attracted to it (yuk).

How can you change this behavior?  Here are a couple of ideas:

  1. First and foremost, clean up after your dog!
  2. Make certain that they have no access to a yard in which your other dogs relieve themselves.
  3. When walking, be careful to watch them, and use a leash correction if they approach it.
  4. You can purchase a powder which, when mixed with food and they injest it, makes it not attractive to the dog.
  5. A bit of a more drastic approach that I have used is to spray all the poor in the yard with pepper spray.  This experience certainly can be uncomfortable for the dog and make them hesitant to do it again.

But, no matter what, always, always clean up their excrement.  For example, with puppies, take them out at predetermined intervals to relieve themselves, and then pick it up before leaving.  And once you start to treat the behavior it can take a number of months to stop it.

Sorry.  I will stop with this subject now.  But I know there are people out there for whom this might be helpful.

I hope this was helpful.

Please visit our website for tons of information at “Banffy Haus K-9 University“  or our blog on German shepherd puppies and dogs.